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Chisago County

Table of goal data by year
Year Rank 100/20 Mbps
2023 #60 of 87 76.81%
2022 #60 of 87 73.63%
2021 #58 of 87 73.34%
2020 #53 of 87 71.92%
2019 #51 of 87 71.26%
2018 #32 of 87 69.53%
2017 #29 of 87 65.45%

Chisago County: Resilience With a Plan

Chisago County ranks 60 for broadband access out of 87 counties. Chisago County has 76.81 percent coverage of broadband of 100 Mbps down. They have 4878 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $45.3 million to get to ubiquitous broadband in the county.

Like several other counties, Chisago County has areas where there is one national provider (or another). Often national providers are not as engaged in rural areas as providers with roots in the community. Chicago has found creative ways to get around that in several towns in the county.

Few counties are as engaged as Chisago is with promoting better broadband; last year a report from the Institute for Local Self Reliance pointed out, they have a plan to apply for State funding one community at a time until they’re covered. With a plan like that, they get a green code, despite their numbers!

In December 2022, Qwest got almost $500,000 to deploy the fiber to 119 unserved and 66 underserved locations in Harris Minnesota.

Chisago County is getting a yellow ranking because they have been stagnant but I suspect their years of engagement will help prepare them to take advantage of incoming federal (BEAD) funding.

Household Density

47.7

Number of Providers

14

As of 2023 · Source: MN DEED

Households with Device Access

A Device 90.7% 95.5%
statewide
Desktop or Laptop 83.8% 83.2%
statewide
Smartphone 77.8% 90.1%
statewide
Tablet 63.7% 65.8%
statewide
Other 2.0% 2.3%
statewide

Has Worked with Blandin Foundation

Yes

Has Received MN Grant(s)

Yes

2016 – SUNRISE TOWNSHIP (CENTURYLINK) FIBER TO THE HOME – GRANT: $1,074,852

2017 – CenturyLink – Fish Lake Township FTTH Project – GRANT $1,833,724

CenturyLink (Qwest Corporation) – Nessel Township FTTH Project – GRANT $1,657,550

2022 – Qwest Corporation dba CenturyLink QC, $465,814.00

Government Districts

U.S. Congress: CD 8

MN Senate: 11, 28

MN House: 11B, 28A, 28B

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